(no subject)

[primroseburrows]

Ok. Gay people on my flist? I'd like to know what you think of this story:

Gay Group Doesn't Like Dodge's Fairy Ad

Anyone can chime in, actually, but I specifically would like to know what gay people think, since it's a gay advocacy group that's protesting. Do you think it's overkill, or internalised stereotyping on the group's part, or is the ad actually perpetuating gay stereotypes? I haven't seen the ad, so I can't give an opinion myself.

Whaddya think? My enquiring mind wants to know.

Okay, off to bring recyclables to the landfill. Exciting, I know. But I'm actually getting some stuff done today. A minor miracle, that, considering my energy level recently.

Comments

[neitherday.livejournal.com]

You can view the ad here.

He does look like an extreme stereotype of a gay man after fairy hits him.

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

Yeah, he really does. Thanks!

One problem with not getting any visual media is I'm out of the commercial loop. Which often is a good thing, but I miss stuff sometimes.

[trempnvt.livejournal.com]

He looks more like a certain European stereotype to me.

[alexisyael.livejournal.com]

That *is* an annoying ad.

[on-a-hill.livejournal.com]

Not gay, but I actually thought it was pretty offensive........have you seen it? It seemed *to me* to clearly be trying to make fun of gay stereotypes.

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

I hadn't seen it before neitherday linked it. I'm pretty TV challenged.

[on-a-hill.livejournal.com]

Yeah.......it's pretty stupid, if you ask me. The whole concept is so........stupid stereotypical "me man!" like.

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

Mneh. I drive a Jetta. VW seems to have cool ads, from the teenytiny amount I've seen.

[songdogmi.livejournal.com]

I saw the ad this week sometime. I understand what's supposed to be offensive, but I just laughed -- didn't get offended at all. I'm acquainted with a lot more gay men who look like the "before" guy than the "after" guy. I figure maybe both the before and after guys are gay, or maybe they're not. "Gay" didn't really figure into it when I saw it.

I guess I'm leaning toward the complaints being more internalized stereotyping, myself.

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

I guess it's more the stereotype they're protesting than reality. The guy does look like a caricature somewhat to me, but not like any gay man I know, either.

I'll never get the media, anyway. My daughter's majoring in Psychology and Advertising at Wheaton. My comment when she first told me about it was, "So, you want to learn how to manipulate the minds of the masses, eh?" Her answer? A smirking "yup". I love my kid. :)

[songdogmi.livejournal.com]

Maybe the guy with the little dogs and the sweater tied around his neck IS tough. I mean, that neighborhood looked kind of tough, and it would take a tough man to wear that outfit there.

I hope your daughter is planning to use her powers for good not evil. ;-)

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

Of course she is. :) Not that the media moguls will necessarily agree with her definition of "good", but still.

[diamond-dust06.livejournal.com]

I've seen it a few times. It's dumb and doesn't make me want the car, but I wasn't offended. I think people are just overreacting. There's nothing really gay about the dude; he was made to be "cute," not homo.

[stormwynd.livejournal.com]

Off the top of my head:

1. To me, the ad pings my "making fun of effeminate gay men" radar pretty strongly. The justaposition of the line "stupid fairy" with the fairy turning the speaker into the a guy with little dogs and a sweater tied around his neck is a pretty clear connection.

2. The speaker who makes fun of the fairy looks like plenty of gay men in my neighborhood. Obviously the commercial writers haven't been to a leather bar before....

3. Am I offended by the commercial? Not personally. I do think the commerical is potentially offensive to some people, though, and I'm surprised that Dodge is running with it. More importantly...

4. I think the commercial itself is kinda stupid -- it certainly didn't make me want to run out and buy a Dodge.

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

I think most commercials are stupid, basically.

[mawaridi.livejournal.com]

Hmm. The ad offends me a little, but not for the same reasons being used in that article. Actually, I find the article kind of annoying too; I think saying the ad "directly finds humor with the term fairy" is reading far too much into it and being a bit precious. Can fairies never be used as a symbol of...um...being a magical sprite that flies around making things nice and sweet? I think it is overreacting to suggest that every fairy (and, for that matter, every depiction of a guy who is un-mannishly obsessed with his appearance) is a deliberate attempt to mock the gay community.

To be honest, I think the ad is more offensive to women than gay men. The fairy is female, after all, and the stereotype I'm seeing is not that she wants to make everything "gay" (and fails in the case of the hyper-macho Dodge) but that she wants to make everything "girly" and pretty.

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

Either way, I'm rather glad I don't own a Dodge (I've owned two in the past--pretty crappy cars). The VW commericals I've seen (like that one with everything moving in time to the windshield wiper) are far more clever.